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I love the pic they use.
That’s even better than a Clintonian lip-biting, contrition pose because he looks so tortured, so deep.
BHO responded like the racist he is. What else could one expect?
The picture is a perfect portrait of a pouting two year old.
…And how many of you have suffered from “driving while black?”
Yeah, Barry stuck his foot into it, considering he’s a thousand miles away from the action, but don’t discount how black men feel about situations like this, or their own experiences.
I know guys jacked over by a “something while black” experience. It’s not all (excuse the pun) “black & white…”
…And how many of you have suffered from “driving while black?”
I absolutely agree that there is a “driving while black” deal. It’s less than it was, but it’s still there. I’m not going to argue why it happens, I don’t think it’s racism.
But…. Is the answer to that to be belligerent at the cops?
I’m always nice to cops and they’re nice back. I have white friends who aren’t nice to cops, they’re experiences aren’t as pleasant.
If you have a problem with someone with power over you (Like oh, say police officers), the being an icehole at them is not a solution, it makes the situation worse.
That’s just an elementary survival trait. Too bad survival traits are passe.
…That’s assuming that events worked out as the cop described. Me, I’m a thousand miles away and make no assumptions. I honestly don’t know what happened. Neither does Barry, which is why this makes him look foolish.
What I objected to above was the unthinking and reflexive position that the black professor in question is a racist, or an intolerant liberal, just because. Such kneejerk reactions (I’ve seen it in many places) are just as silly as saying all conservatives are haters, libertarians are drug-loving freaks, or Soldiers/Marines are unthinking kill-crazy cavemen.
Somewhere else, in a comment stream on this topic, someone observed a mini-cam would be a great idea for local police officers in situations like this.
What I objected to above was the unthinking and reflexive position that the black professor in question is a racist, or an intolerant liberal, just because. Such kneejerk reactions (I’ve seen it in many places) are just as silly as saying all conservatives are haters
One might even suggest that stereotyping tens of millions of people based on the word “conservative” is even a little bit worse than trying to judge the character of one Harvard professor based on a 3-page arrest report, his own statements to the press, comments from a few other witnesses, his career before (and after) his arrest, the career of the arresting officer, colleagues who have lent support to each man, photos of the event, and any audio or videotape which may become available.
But then, I’m the sort of person who will read a couple stories about an incident like this, and the arrest report, and the arrested person’s statements to the press, and comments from other witnesses, and learn something about the career of the arrested person and that of the arrested officer, and hear about colleagues who have stood up for each man, and look at a few photos of the incident, and then jump right to an unthinking, reflexive position within 3 or 4 days.
Geez, homeboy, if you want to twist my words around, try not to be so frikkin’ obvious about it next time, eh?
Let’s start with how you (VERY obviously) cut off the quote after the word “conservative.” I was trying to point out that many people opposed to you have used over-broad, unthinking generalizations to smear entire groups, including conservatives, libertarians, and warfighters. But, hey, nice try at a red herring, amigo.
You cite a “3-page arrest report, his own statements to the press,” etc., but fail to point out just which data points contradict the professor’s point of view, except that of the arresting officer, natch. I must point out (for the hard of thinking) yet again that I claim no omnicience about this encounter, nor do I claim irrefutable conclusions about what “really” happened, as opposed to any current correspondents who included “the career of the arrested person,” irrelevant to the current question, “that of the arrested officer,” again irrelevant, since that has no bearing on what allegedly happened on that particular day, “hear about colleagues who have stood up for each man,” oh, good, frikkin’ character references; again not relevant to the question of what happened that day, then “look at a few photos of the incident.”
…And where are they, and how do they relate to the truth or untruth of any testimony? Unless you have a shot of the professor rabbit-punching the officer, I don’t see how that’s relevant.
Alas, bgates suffers a complete FAIL when he tries to differentiate between “stereotyping tens of millions of people based on the word ‘conservative’,” and “stereotyping tens of millions of people based on the word ‘liberal’,” which is precisely what his ilk is doing.
Let us also note that bgates completely ignores the challenge which all black Americans face when encountering situations which appear to relate to “driving while black,” or “standing in my own home while black.”
I have to reiterate that my own position on this question is “not resolved.” On the other hand reflective folks such as Veeshir do acknowledge that a generic “something while black” set of encounters has happened in this country in the immediate past.
What torques folks like bgates off is that I relegate them to the same status as liberals; good Lord forbid that anyone should discount a mindless knee-jerk conservative viewpoint to an equivalent (but mirror-image) mindless knee-jerk liberal viewpoint. Everyone knows that all conservatives are God-fearing, patriotic, noble citizens of gentle birth, while all liberals are Amerikka-hating commies who just can’t wait to inflict some sort of atheist baby-killing dictatorship on our Old White Man European hegemony.
Those of us with functioning brains, on the other hand, prefer to let the tribal bigots on both sides run riot just to underline how dumb they really are. After that we might salvage something.
bgates, neither you nor your fellow travelers know one thing about what actually happened in that house, nor do the folks in Barry’s administration. You don’t, Barry doesn’t, and I don’t. The only difference is that I admit that I don’t.
I’ll also admit that I grew up around a lot of black Americans, got drunk with them, did some some moderately illegal things with a couple of them, worked with them, and worked for them. The town where I grew up has been very nearly 50/50 black/white mix for several decades, so I have a pretty good idea of what happens to black men in the midwest. One of my current bosses (my age) is absolutely certain he knows* what happened in that house, but at least he can cite personal experience. Can you, bgates, cite personal experience of black citizens encountering white police officers?
That’s the real point of this encounter: are you determined to mindlessly file this under your favorite knee-jerk prejudice, or are you willing to ask “what really happened?”
bgates objects to my “stereotyping millions of people … [as] conservatives,” while he is quite content to stereotype [other] millions of people who fail to adhere to his own political position.
PS feel free to cite specifics on all those things you said “might” be true to support your case.
*I’m not saying he’s right, but he’s sure. And he’s no knee-jerk DC liberal.